21 historic mosques restored

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH) and the Al-Turath Heritage Foundation has completed the restoration of 21 mosques around the country.

The SCTNH, at its 39th meeting recently, has also set up a project to restore other mosques in cooperation with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, to highlight their religious importance.

This is expected to boost the work of the Al-Turath Foundation, which has been working on the restoration of mosques for the past 17 years, in conjunction with the SCTNH, according to a report in an online publication recently.

The mosques that have been restored include Al-Zawiyah in Yanbu and the Al-Ghamamah and Abu Bakr Siddique mosques. The Umar bin Al-Khattab mosque in Madinah has been restored with the help of Al-Manakha company, and the Al-Sakhrah mosque with the support of Prince Sultan bin Salman, the president of the SCTNH.

The Al-Shafei mosque in Riyadh has been restored with funds allocated by the late King Abdullah, and the Al-Aushazah mosque of Riyadh with the help of the late Princess Sultanah bint Ahmad Al-Sudairi. The Al-Dhuwaihiriyah mosque was completed with the assistance of Prince Sultan bin Salman, while residents helped to restore the Al-Sarihah, Al-Mureeh, Al-Dawasir and Al-Husseini mosques.

In Asir, the Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammad bin Saud grand mosque was restored by the Al-Turath foundation with funds set aside by the late King Abdullah when he was crown prince.

Six mosques in the Eastern Province were restored with the support of the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu. Five of these mosques are in Al-Ahsa and one near Jubail.

A study to revamp eight mosques has also been completed. They are the Al-Baiah mosque in Makkah, and five mosques in the Sabaa Masajid area, which would be completed by the secretariat of Madinah. Al-Memar mosque and Al-Hanafi mosque in the old part of Jeddah would be restored with support from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman.

A total of 87 historic mosques in the Kingdom have been identified for restoration including four in Makkah, eight in Madinah, 14 in Riyadh, five in Qassim, 36 in Asir, six in Tabuk, six in Jazan, four in Najran and four in Baha.